WHATCOM COUNTY REAL ESTATE RESEARCH REPORT. On the web:

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2 WHATCOM COUNTY REAL ESTATE RESEARCH REPORT On the web: Volume 32 Published by the Whatcom County Real Estate Research Committee with the cooperation of the College of Business and Economics Western Washington University Bellingham, Washington Page Report

3 WHATCOM COUNTY REAL ESTATE RESEARCH COMMITTEE CHAIRPERSON Bill Henshaw Windermere Real Estate EDITOR SECRETARY & TREASURER Julia L. Hansen, Ph.D. Adoline Brown Professor of Economics Chicago Title Insurance Co. College of Business & Economics Western Washington University DIRECTOR AT LARGE William T. Follis SUB-COMMITTEE CHAIRPERSONS Permit Activity Multi-Family Activity Ben Glassett Doug Wight City of Bellingham Ebright Wight Plat Activity Commercial Activity Kathy Bell Jeff Hopwood City of Bellingham Windermere Real Estate Single-Family Activity Housing Stock Julia Hansen Ben Glassett Western Washington University City of Bellingham Condominium Activity David Goddard Whatcom Land Title Page Report

4 TABLE OF CONTENTS EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION 7 The Housing Boom and Bust in Whatcom County 8 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 10 OTHER NORTHWEST REAL ESTATE REPORTS 11 CENSUS TRACT DIVISIONS OF WHATCOM COUNTY Table 1 Whatcom County Census Tracts 12 Fig. 1 Census Tract Map: Whatcom County 13 Table 2 Bellingham Area Census Tracts 14 Fig. 2 Census Tract Map: City of Bellingham 15 WHATCOM COUNTY REAL ESTATE SALES: 2009 SUMMARY Table 3 Annual Sales by Area and Type of Property, 2009 & Table 4 Monthly Sales by Area and Type of Property, January 2009-April A. PERMIT AND PLAT ACTIVITY 18 A.1 Building Permits - Bellingham, A.2 Building Permits - Blaine, A.3 Building Permits - Everson, A.4 Building Permits - Ferndale, A.5 Building Permits - Lynden, A.6 Building Permits - Nooksack, A.7 Building Permits - Sumas, A.8A Building Permits Unincorporated Whatcom Co., A.8B Single-Family Permits by Area, Unincorporated Whatcom Co., 2009 and A.9 Short Plats - Bellingham, A.10 Long Plats - Bellingham, A.11 Short and Long Plats - Unincorporated Whatcom Co., B. MORTGAGE ACTIVITY 27 B.1 Mortgage Lending Activity, B.2 Interest Rates on Conventional Mortgages, C. SINGLE FAMILY RESIDENTIAL SALES ACTIVITY 30 History of Single-Family Sales, Whatcom County 30 Frequency Distribution of House Prices, C.1A Summary of Whatcom County House Sales, C.1B Summary of Bellingham Area House Sales, C.1C Median Sales Price: New and Existing Houses, C.2 Number of Houses Sold and Median Price by Month, C.3 Sales by Number of Bedrooms, C.4 Sales by Style of House, C.5 Total Sales by Census Tract, C.6 Sales of New Houses by Area, Page Report

5 C. SINGLE FAMILY RESIDENTIAL SALES ACTIVITY, cont. C.7 Houses Sold by Census Tract and Address, SPECIAL SECTION: WHATCOM COUNTY AFFORDABILITY 63 D. CONDOMINIUM ACTIVITY 68 History of Condominium Sales, Whatcom County 68 D.1 Total Recorded Condominium Sales, D.2 Condo Sales: New & Existing Units, D.3 Condominium Sales by Area, D.4 Condominium Sales by Area and Subdivision, D.5 Average Price per Sq. Ft. by Area and Bedroom Type, E. RESIDENTIAL RENTAL PROPERTY 73 E.1A Apartment Rents by Area and Bedrooms, Bellingham, April E.1B Vacancy Rates by Area, Bellingham, April E.2 Apartment Rents & Vacancy Rates by Age and Number of Bedrooms, Whatcom County, March 2010 and September E.3 History of Apartment Rents & Vacancy Rates, Whatcom County 77 F. COMMERCIAL ACTIVITY 78 Vacancy Statistics Summary, April Airport Employment Area Profile 80 Barkley Village Employment Area Profile 81 Bellis Fair Mall Employment Area Profile 82 Bennett Marine Drive Employment Area Profile 83 Cordata Employment Area Profile 84 Downtown Employment Area Profile 85 Fairhaven Core Employment Area Profile 86 Fairhaven Waterfront Employment Area Profile 87 Fountain District Employment Area Profile 88 Hannegan Corridor Employment Area Profile 89 Iowa/Fraser Corridor Employment Area Profile 90 James Street Corridor Employment Area Profile 91 Kline/Kelly Corridor Employment Area Profile 92 Lakeway/Lincoln Corridor Employment Area Profile 93 Meridian Corridor Employment Area Profile 94 Northwest/Birchwood Employment Area Profile 95 Ohio Street Corridor Employment Area Profile 96 Oldtown District Employment Area Profile 97 Orchard Street Corridor Employment Area Profile 98 Pacific Highway/NW Corridor Employment Area Profile 99 Samish Way/Sehome Village Employment Area Profile 100 Squalicum Harbor Employment Area Profile 101 St. Joseph s Hospital Employment Area Profile 102 Sunset Square/James St Employment Area Profile 103 Waterfront District Employment Area Profile 104 West Bakerview Corridor Employment Area Profile 105 Page Report

6 G. HOUSING STOCK (Bellingham) 106 G.1 Changes in the Stock by Type of Unit, G.2 Changes in the Stock by Neighborhood, H. CONSTRUCTION COSTS 109 Figs. 1 Front Elevation and Floor Plans 110 H.1 Construction Cost Breakdown, March I. BUSINESS AND ECONOMIC INDICATORS 113 I.1 Whatcom County Population, I.2 Whatcom County Population - Age 65 Years and Over, Fig. 1 Yearly Percent Changes of Population and Percent of Population Over 65, I.3 Enrollment at Western Washington University, I.4 Whatcom County Labor Force, I.5 Whatcom County Covered Employment and Earnings, I.6 Whatcom County Manufacturing Employment, I.7 Whatcom County Non-manufacturing Employment, I.8 Whatcom County Non-agricultural Employment by Category, Fig. 2 Whatcom County Non-agricultural Employment by Category, Percent of Total Non-ag Employment, I.9 Whatcom County Construction Industry, I.10 Construction as Percent of Total Employment and Wages, Selected Counties, I.11 Whatcom County Quarterly Taxable Retail Sales, I.12 Whatcom County Taxable Retail Sales, I.13 Top Ten Counties in Taxable Retail Sales, Fig. 3 Total Border Crossings and U.S.- Can. Exchange Rate, Fig. 4 Taxable Retail Sales and U.S.- Can. Exchange Rate, I.14 Whatcom County Real Estate Excise Tax Collections, I.15 Seattle and Vancouver, B.C. Yearly Percentage Changes of Residential Housing Price Indexes, I.16 U.S. Economic Trends and Housing Markets, I.17 Median Household Income, Whatcom County, J. ADDITIONAL REAL ESTATE INFORMATION 133 Page Report

7 EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION Data in the Report indicate that real estate activity in Whatcom County slowed again in The number of single-family homes sold fell 4.7 percent below the 2008 level, and the dollar volume of single-family sales fell 11.2 percent below the 2008 level. The number of condominiums sold in the county was down 29.3 percent in For single-family homes, the median price fell by 6.7 percent in 2009, after declining by 4.2 percent in For the year 2009, the median price of all homes sold in Whatcom County was $259,900, while the median price of homes sold in the Bellingham area was $274,000. Due to declining prices and a reduction in mortgage interest rates, affordability improved in For a detailed analysis of Whatcom County affordability, please see the Special Section prepared by Glenn Crellin at the Washington Center for Real Estate Research. Permit activity was down in 2009, with permit activity in Bellingham falling to the lowest level in at least 32 years. The number of multi-family units permitted fell from 102 to 63 and singlefamily permits fell from 86 to 49. Outside of Bellingham, permit activity fell 23 percent in Blaine, 29 percent in Lynden and 31 percent in unincorporated Whatcom County. Plat activity in Bellingham was mixed in 2009, short-plat activity falling by 5 percent, but long plat activity up 26 percent from the 2008 level. In unincorporated Whatcom County, short-plat activity fell 39 percent, but long-plat activity rose from 2 lots to 291 lots. The editor wishes to thank all those who volunteered their time to make this report possible, in particular the individuals and organizations listed on page 10 and the Committee officers and subcommittee chairpersons. For an overview of the local housing market, please see my article The Housing Boom and Bust in Whatcom County on page 8 of the Report. Julia L. Hansen, Ph.D. Professor of Economics College of Business and Economics Western Washington University [email protected] Page Report